The Recruit Season 3 Must Do Justice To This Character That Season 2 Totally Failed

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WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for The Recruit season 2.

The Recruit season 3 needs to give one particular overlooked season 2 character a bigger platform after her key role in The Recruit season 1. The Recruit season 2 proved that the series is becoming more of an anthological series, similar to Prime Video’s Reacher, after essentially discarding key characters and plot developments from The Recruit season 1, most notably Laura Haddock’s Max. While this is a strong structural foundation for future seasons of The Recruit, if Netflix decides to greenlight The Recruit season 3, that is, the show should avoid overriding recurring character developments with new additions and settings.

The Recruit also shorted its season length in season 2 to six episodes, down from season 1’s eight. This reduced the total runtime by approximately 80–90 minutes, which naturally forced certain characters’ roles to be reduced accordingly. Even though Noah Centineo’s Owen Hendricks has a core group of friends and roommates in season 1 in the form of Hannah and Terrence, both characters had their roles noticeably decreased, especially Terrence, who was hardly in The Recruit season 2 whatsoever. Hannah decided to move out of their shared apartment but struggled to remain relevant in the series soon afterward.

The Recruit Didn’t Know What To Do With Hannah In Season 2

Hannah Was On The Outside Looking In For Most Of Season 2

Hannah Copeland, played by Fivel Stewart, went from being a foundational character in The Recruit season 1 to a floating side character in The Recruit season 2. It’s clear that the series tried to give Hannah her own standalone subplot, entertaining a new love interest while also getting back at her controlling wealthy mother. However, all of these developments ended up being tied to Hannah’s relationship with Owen, especially after Jae was discovered to be an undercover informant for South Korea’s intelligence agency. Even when Amelia brought her into the CIA’s world, Hannah was still on the outside looking in.

I Don’t Know How, But The Recruit Season 3 Needs To Bring This Character Back After How Season 2 Treated Them

The Recruit season 3 has to bring back a key character after abruptly discarding her without any explanation following The Recruit season 1’s finale.

Even though it was the right choice for Hannah’s character to introduce some separation between her and Owen at the beginning of The Recruit season 2, that change doesn’t really push their relationship in any particular direction. Owen is the first person Hannah calls after exposing Jae and Owen responds accordingly as a friend would do, using his available resources to get Hannah out of her predicament. I would have guessed that something as traumatic as that would have brought Owen and Hannah back together but instead, The Recruit season 2 doubles down on Owen’s new love interest, Yoo Jin.

Hannah Deserves To Have More Agency In The Recruit Season 3

Hannah Should Be Given Her Own Subplot Separate From Owen’s Main Storyline

Owen (Noah Centineo) leaning overtop of Hannah (Fivel Stewart) in Netflix's The Recruit

I don’t necessarily think that Owen and Hannah should get back together in The Recruit season 3 (save that for the series finale). However, in order to make Hannah’s character more relevant in the hit Netflix series, she’ll have to embark on her own journey separate from Owen’s, especially after she shot down the idea of joining the CIA during season 2.

Everything in The Recruit still runs through Owen, but Hannah could hold her own as The Recruit’s number two lead.

Even if The Recruit grouped Hannah and Terrence together, giving them their own subplot and their own mission in the series separate from Owen’s graymailer objectives, then the series would be better and more well-rounded for it. At this stage, everything in The Recruit still runs through Owen, but Hannah could hold her own as The Recruit’s number two lead.

The Recruit Season 3 Story Tease Means The Show Risks Repeating Season 2’s Critical Mistake

Early teases about The Recruit season 3 suggest that the hit Netflix thriller series could repeat the same big mistake as The Recruit season 2.

If there is a third season of The Recruit, it should either give Hannah a much bigger role or cut her altogether. If The Recruit can’t figure out a way to make her, and by proxy Terrence, pertinent to the series, especially within a reduced runtime, it would be best to cut their losses.

An easy fix would be sending Owen to a foreign part of the world and not having him be in D.C. whatsoever. This would also trim many loose-end characters in The Recruit season 2, such as Janus, Amelia, and even Nyland. Owen seems to be heading in more of the CIA field agent direction than remaining an attorney, which would make for a more exciting season altogether.

Owen And Hannan Shouldn’t Be Together, But Their Relationship Must Be Fixed

Hannah Is One Of Owen’s Truest Friends But He Hurts Her More Than She Can Take

The Recruit season 2 proved it was more interested in switching things up for Owen, in terms of setting and supporting characters, than keeping them the same. This created an overstuffed palette of supporting characters in The Recruit season 2 crammed inside a six-episode season. The most likely route that The Recruit season 3 could take is to drop most, if not all, of the new season 2 characters and change its setting from South Korea to another part of the country.

The Recruit may be more focused on expanding globally than getting back to its season 1 roots, which doesn’t make much room for Hannah moving forward.

Alternatively, I wouldn’t mind seeing Owen hang around D.C. more if the season 3 graymailer came from within the U.S. government, for example. This would naturally allow Hannah and Terrence, the latter of whom works in politics, to take on bigger roles and become part of Owen’s main storyline. The Recruit may be more focused on expanding globally than getting back to its season 1 roots, which unfortunately doesn’t make much room for Hannah moving forward.